We've had a topic on tea books here already, but here's another angle. What books, not on the subject of teas, are best read with your favorite cup of tea? In other words, which books are the scones to your Earl Grey?
Oh, Excellent Women is a great book for that digifish.
I recently read Bill Bryson's
Notes from a Small Island That is also great with a cup of tea because he is continually commenting on how Brits believe anything can be made better with a cup of tea and always sy "oh lovely" when offered a cup.
Excellent Women - indeed, any Barbara Pym - is an ideal accompaniment for tea!
You're right about the cup and saucer, too!
I had wicked fun with a cup of Taylor's of Harrogate Spiced Christmas Tea* and
Cautionary Tales for Children, yesterday. The "very British" tone, the black humor and irony, the marvelously elegant, dark whimsy of the drawings by Edward Gorey - made it perfect with a long-drawn-out afternoon cup. Choose something in the Earl Grey or citrus-scented range for best effect.
* lemon and orange rind stand out more than spicing, which is mild, cinnamon-y
Actually, it'd be great with good green tea, or Darjeeling, but citrus seems like the thing... a winter wiping-away of stress. Revivifying.
I just purchased
Excellent Women recently - looking forward to reading it (if I ever get past my TBR pile).
Notes from a Small Island was fantastic with a mug of English Breakfast. Must read Cautionary Tales.
Ladygata - it goes quickly. Don't pass up making it an 'in-between' read! :)
Oooh.... >6 reminds me: I'm visiting a friend, soon, who has a copy of
Jeremey Paxman's
The English, which I started and failed to finish on a previous visit. That, or some English history (I say, as if I'm really going to spend the time) would be excellent... with same, or a good, period Bohea, or a bit of Darjeeling, if we go late enough....
Any book goes well with tea; however, these are the books that “cry out” for a cup of tea (and a biscuit, toasted cheese, a boiled egg, a slab of cake, or buttered toast….hmmm I have to stop now, my stomach is rumbling)
Barbara Pym, Miss Read, E. F. Benson (Mapp and Lucia books), Laurie Colwin,
Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe Series (Cornwell does a grand job of describing food in his Sharpe books and the main character, Richard Sharpe, and his Riflemen are always brewing a cup of tea, usually from loose tea found in their ammo pouches that is mixed with gunpowder), Elizabeth Gaskell…. and of course many, many others that I am now too famished to recall…..I am dashing off to grab a book, a cup of tea and leftovers!
Touchstones not responding properly.
Message edited by its author, Dec 31, 2007, 3:18pm.
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. It's a comfort read for me, so it goes perfectly with a cup of tea and a blanket.
For some reason, historical fantasy novels seem to me to go beautifully with a hot cup of tea. Marion Zimmer Bradley's
The Mists of Avalon and the prequels that she wrote in the years afterward just fit perfectly, though it's been quite a few years since I read them. A more recent success for me was trying it with
Notes From Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky; I swear tea enhances your perceptive abilities.
Lately I've noticed that I most enjoy the combination of books and tea when reading non-fiction. Philosophy and tea especially seem to blend well, their respective haughtiness melding to produce an odd form of hubris, lending one the sensation of being the most important person alive, all curled up in your armchair alone.
Message edited by its author, Jan 17, 2008, 2:50pm.
Anything long and rambling;
Jane Austen's an obvious answer, but so is a truly great fantasy /SF series,
Rosemary Kirstein's Steer'swoman series. Earl Grey, Raspberry Royale and Constant Comment are my choices for tea; the latter especially good in winter.
The only thing I would add to this equation is a "blankie"! And I'm longing for all three! It's cold and snowy here and I would love to curl up with a book and a cup of tea. Sadly, I've been missing that time lately---this mom surprised the family with a new puppy for Christmas! What was I thinking? I had fantasies of the dog curling up WITH me while I read a good book. I'll have to wait until he can resist EATING the book!
The January gales are howling outside my window.
At such times, I find that
Shirley Jackson goes very well with a hot cup of tea and a fleecy throw to wrap around one's legs. May I recommend
We Have Always Lived in the Castle? (Just don't take any sugar in your tea ;-)
Sigh. It seems my long post disappeared. As for recommendations: you may, and I will take it under advisement! :)
We've been having some cold weather here (as I believe much of the country has). So any book and a cup of tea, curled on the couch.... better yet, make a pot of loose leaf tea and spend half the day!
Which reminds me, I promised to look over a 50+ page document for someone at my volunteer job. She said she hoped it wouldn't be too much trouble, and I told her I would read it while lounging at home with a cup of tea and it's no trouble at all. But I'm only half-way through it. Time for some serious lounging! I think Earl Grey would be just the right balance of relaxing and mental stimulation.
Anthing British does it for me- as I am now rereading
Lynn Kurland's
A Dance Through Time I need to remove myself from this chair and attack the sofa, with mug, a bit of shortbread, and a cozy throw. I'm off!
I'm reading Anthony Trollope for the first time right now, and must say he goes well with Earl Grey.
And now I've revived a dormant thread!
I finished Elizabeth Taylor's
In a Summer Season last week, and for that kind of perceptive, light-infused, sparkling British author I certainly recommend Darjeeling. It's a good choice for hot tea in... well, dare I say 'a summer season'?
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. But you have to time your tea-drinking carefully, so as not to spit it out while chortling!
I'm currently reading (Spilling the Beans) by ((Clarissa Dickson Wright)), which goes well with a cup of Scottish Blend, as the author now lives most of the time there. She is also now tee-total so what better drink than tea!!
I Capture The Castle with a tiny cup of English Breakfast tea because the Mortemains were so poor.
Yes. And, if you like milk - go lightly!
Rather than specific "tea books," this post puts me in mind of several things I've read where my tea drinking played a part in the overall experience. The common element in these books is, I think, length. I think that tea is most required when you've got a book your going to be living with for quite a while - long hours for long days for weeks at a time. I rememeber a lot tea during Proust and a lot during Tolstoy. These are books that aren't hard, per say, they're actually a lot of fun, just long. The kind of book that will take over a little section of your life and define it. Also the type that lends itself to a read-a-little, drink-and-reflect-a-little approach. These happen to be my favorite kinds of books anyway and tea happens to be my favorite drink/hobby/past-time. Lucky me.
#29 - Well put!
In my latest favourite book called
Elegant als een egel, translated "elegantly as an hedgehog" (I think), there is lots of talking about tea, especially about Japanese tea and ceremonies and the book by Kazuko Okakura. So the best cup of tea to drink while reading that fantastic book would be green tea or perhaps jasmine. But to be honest, I believe every cup of tea would go well with a book...
any good book, with any good tea.
I've noticed that there's a definite theme to the list of Most Commonly Shared Books on the main group page. It seems that most of us are fantasy fans!
Harry Potter (all seven!),
The Hobbit, and then a couple of historical "romances" (
Jane Eyre and
Pride and Prejudice).
I haven't read the last two, but the first two are high on my list of books to enjoy a cuppa over. Both of them have that cozy British feeling (for me) that could be described as nostalgic if I'd ever lived in England. ;)
It has that effect on a lot of us, I think. :) Quasi-nostalgic affection.... and connotations of at least emotional comfort.
As a non-fiction read, I've just started the guidebook
London: Tea in the City which describes all the famous or small places one can get a proper cup of tea. Beautiful little photos of Harrod's and Fortnum's tea offerings.
Probably a very strong English Breakfast or Ceylon-Assam mix. (I'm guessing.) With a bit of something 'warming' in it, at least for Thomas, I would think. Whiskey, rum?
I didn't like tea much until I tasted it with milk on my first trip to England. I've drunk five or more cups per day ever since. Often with a book or the New Yorker. Off the top of my head, here are a couple of tea-related anecdotes from
A Book of Ages: Paul Revere dressing up like an Indian to dump tea into Boston harbor (age 38) and Julia McWilliams meets Paul Child on the verandah of a tea plantation in Ceylon (she was 31.)
Diajoy (12) is quite right: Jane Austen demands tea, almost any variety you like, but it must be in a cup or at worst a ceramic mug. No paper, plastic or (ugh!) styrofoam!
I drank an international variety of rooibos, Assam, and several Chinese varieties through
The World is Flat and
Hot, Flat and Crowded.
Nice cup of tea and a sit down by
Nicey - so that you can use the book for practical examples of biscuit testing/tasting and ratings, dunking or not, discussions about teapots, etc.
How about
Peter Ackroyd's
The Great Fire of London with a pot of Lapsang Souchong?
One of the most entertaining authors around today, and a fascinating subject!
That might work for you even if you hate the tea!!
Clifford (41), if you don't like lapsang souchong you could steep a cup in the background for atmosphere while reading
The Great Fire of London, and drink something else.
Or you could light a fire in the fireplace and drink another kind. I must admit, I'm not so fond of the Lapsang Souchong (love reading about 17th c. London, however).
Don't have a fireplace, so lapsang souchong is safer. And I enjoy drinking it.
Poems by
Robert Burns with Scottish Breakfast tea. And then when it's long past the breakfast hour, switch to another beverage from Scotland. ;-)
>45 Indeed! I love that series. The tea, less so :)
I'm drinking a lot of Twinings "Prince of Wales" tea lately. Which book(s) should I choose?
Jerome K Jerome's Three Men in a Boat but th eproblem is you may choke on the tea for laughing.
I came across a little paperback that claimed to be the first in a teashop mystery series. It was called Death by Darjeeling by Laura Childs. It would have been perfect with Darjeeling, but alas there was none in the house so I made do with Early Grey!
I agree that a good pot of tea is requisite when reading Pym... and I agree with digifish, the china is important. The right cup and saucer are sometimes just as important as the type of tea we put in them!
#50, you'll enjoy the tea shop mysteries ... good brainless cozies ... plot is sometimes secondary to the descriptions of the tea shop and its menu. (But I've read 'em all!)
You might enjoy my book "High Tea". It's about four gals in an L.A. tearoom. The best part of writing it was the research.... Especially the devon cream. I highly recommend a pot of "mauritius" to sip while you're reading. It's a black tea, slightly sweet with a hint of vanilla.
I've included a great recipe for scones in the book... the buttermilk makes them light and flaky.
Sandra
Unfortunately, I've been reading a lot of noir lately, and there's no two ways about it, those are (black) coffee books. I think after I finish
Jinx (currently reading) and
Torso (next on the chopping block), I'll take a break and jump back over to YA fantasy.
What would people recommend for
The Immortals quartet by Tamora Pierce?
Message edited by its author, Jun 24, 2009, 12:53pm.
Patricia Wentworth's Miss Silver always enjoys a cup of tea. And a bit of knitting, in between murder cases.
I'm currently reading
Tea with Jane Austen, a well-researched non-fiction book. The author writes that Jane was in charge of making the family breakfast every morning and was responsible for buying the ingredients. She would travel to London to buy tea from the Twinings warehouse and the family only used Wedgewood china. The amount of teas cut with poisonous dyes and foreign matter on the market made it important for Jane to know who she was buying tea from.
I thoroughly enjoy the new author Sarah Addison Allen. Two books, "Garden Spells" & "Sugar Queen", they are whimsical & mysterious -- light reads and great to lose yourself in with a great cup of tea!
I couldn't imagine reading Agatha Christie sans tea.
Sigh...I've reached a horrible juncture; dog days of August where hot tea is out of season and just a season of life where it's hard to concentrate on a good book.
No tea, no reading---aaaaagh! Hoping it'll pass quickly!
Tea doesn't have to be cold to be refreshing in hot weather. Quite the opposite, in fact. It does come from hot countries ...
I do agree, though, that there are moments in summer where it's hard to focus on reading - at least for me, anyway. I can usually fit tea drinking in my day (I kind of have to due to the caffeine addiction), but there's nothing like autumn for a cup of tea and a cozy book. Soon!
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